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driveshaft protection

B

BranndonC

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i've been thinking up different ways of making drive shaft protection, and have come up with a few ideas, heres some of them
something like *THIS* on either side of the pumpkin with a plate welded between them, or something that attaches on to *THIS* guardsman from diy http://diy4x.com/drivetrain.htm that matches the shape and runs along below the drive shaft all the way upto the belly protection.
there are other ideas also, but i know limiting flex is a factor. anyone here have any good suggestions? if you are wondering why... just to have piece of mind, and total underside protection.
 
I like square tube driveshafts personally, they are cheap to make and are next to impossible to bend/break if done correctly.
i would worry about protecting one unless it was anything thinner then say 1/4" wall tube wether it be round or square.
 
This is gonna be kind of hard to explain but...I would start with a pretty substantial piece of plate as long as you need and 6"-10" wide and bend it into a mild V shape. Mount a narrow shackle on each side of the t-case output along with the appropriate bushings. Mount the other side to a guardsman with bushings on that end as well. Depending on a lot of things you might have to notch the first few inches of plate to clear the joints and shafts at the t-case. Someone will undoubtedly think of something better and more simple, but that's all I can come up with for now.
 
That's tough. I'm sure there are some specialty ones around that'd be small enough to work well but they'd be pretty hard to find. What's a cheap rod end going for these days? That'd be way tougher than a bushing and deal with flex a lot better but pretty freakin expensive too. Might wanna take a look at an OTR truck also. Many of the parts are so large and heavy that they have various miscellaneous odd small bushings where there wouldn't normally be on light duty truck. I'll keep thinkin and lookin but for now.... :dunno:
 
Good example of over-engineering in action. Instead of wrackign your brain, spending all this time and effort to built something to protect your driveshaft, why not just get a good HD shaft built with thick tube? .250 wall. That solves all the issues, is alot cleaner looking, and faster. Use that gaurdsman thing, and good .250 wall shaft, and you can cross your driveshafts off the list of things to worry about. Why all this over thinking shiit? The simplest solution is usally the best solution.
 
Here's an action shot of my guardsman hard at work chipping away at rocks this last saturday....worth it's weight in steel :D

P4080021.jpg
 
Ive always wanted some driveshaft protection too. Its just such a vulnerable spot. Something like you described so this doesnt happen to me again....:doah:
-Harrison

DSCN0448.JPG
 
We build DLs at our shop. The .250" wall is possible, but a little spendy. DLs are spendy anyway.

Of course you always have the "HD" Pipe-instead-of-tubing DLs that come in for us to fix sometimes too. :D
 
87BrnRsd said:
Ive always wanted some driveshaft protection too. Its just such a vulnerable spot. Something like you described so this doesnt happen to me again....:doah:
-Harrison
Click to expand...

Thicker tubing would have solved that problem. I run .250 wall stuff front and rear on my rig. My front shaft weighs 65lbs...:eek1: I totally thrash on them, and I do it without worry. Both of them have deep spiral shaped gash marks running down them from the rocks. I don't have any kind of "protection", I don't even have one of those pinion guard things. And I haven't had one driveshaft related problem. If you really want a bunch over complicated, ghetto looking bullshiit bolted under your rig, the go for it. But it's not nessecary. Keep It Simple Stupid.
 
You don't pull any punches, do you, KidJethro? :haha:

When ya want me to come grab that motor? Lemme know, or tell my brother to. :D

Have a good one, cya after a while - David
 
K10A'sBROinSLO said:
You don't pull any punches, do you, KidJethro? :haha:

When ya want me to come grab that motor? Lemme know, or tell my brother to. :D

Have a good one, cya after a while - David
Click to expand...

ha! My penchant for speaking my mind no matter the circumstances, has gotten me in trouble numerous times and stepped on many toes. Thats ok though, I kinda like it that way. :D

As for the 6.2....Your brother says you'll be up in Sac on the 29th. If he can get me some $$$ before hand, I'll have it out and ready for ya by then. :wink1: :laugh:
 
I also say screw all that janky **** and just build a beefy shaft. When I ordered my CV rear from Jesse at High Angle he told me the tube thickness needed to be up'd to .120 because the shaft is so long (~60", was originally for my burban). I inquired about .25 wall and he said it wasnt so great for a DD highway driven truck so I went with the .120 wall. The shaft now resides in my trail truck and I have thrashed the everlasting **** out of it and wacked it on stuff as often as you would expect a 60" long driveshaft to whack stuff and it has survived perfectly fine. It has plenty of battle scars, but nothing that hinders its use in any way.

I am curious thogh, has anyone ever actually damaged their pinion or driveshaft yoke beyond use by baching it on a rock? I know blowing u-joints usually destroys the yokes too but I've never seen a rock do any significant damage.
 
afroman006 said:
I am curious thogh, has anyone ever actually damaged their pinion or driveshaft yoke beyond use by baching it on a rock? I know blowing u-joints usually destroys the yokes too but I've never seen a rock do any significant damage.
Click to expand...

Before I put the quardsman on I smashed the pinion member on my 14ff which bent the pinion (yoke)seal and actually bent the metal casting. I had to remove the yoke and file the seal seating area since it had made a dimple in it. This was the only way to get the new seal in after destroying one, luckily I bought 2 of them since it was such a PITA to find the right one.

It still seeps a little bit, but my rig is a trailer queen now and it only seeps when I have been driving it and get the gear oil hot.

The guardsman was too cheap to not get for peace of mind and in no way has been a henderance to my wheeling. Great product:D
 
KidJethro said:
ha! My penchant for speaking my mind no matter the circumstances, has gotten me in trouble numerous times and stepped on many toes. Thats ok though, I kinda like it that way. :D

As for the 6.2....Your brother says you'll be up in Sac on the 29th. If he can get me some $$$ before hand, I'll have it out and ready for ya by then. :wink1: :laugh:
Click to expand...

Wheeling trip 22nd. 29th we good. $ Should be no prob.


I'm thinking it may not be good for Tcase internals (especially slipyoke 208-ish stuff) to have the DL banging on rocks.
 
I remember seeing a cheesy one in Petersons or 4 wheeler under homemade things. It was a large piece of angle iron (about 3") with a U-bolt welded to it and bolted to the pinion.

Then on the other side, a sliding shaft (in/out) going into a rotating piece on a crossmember like this MOO axle wrap pic.

wrapzapper03.gif



Get rid of the u-bolt and use something like a Guardsman on the pinion end and hey, ya just might be on to something.
 
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